Pustulose exanthématique aiguë généralisée liée à l’hydroxychloroquine : à propos d’une observation

We report a 45-year-old woman who presented an acute generalized exanthematic pustulosis induced by hydroxychloroquine. Acute generalized exanthematic pustulosis is a severe eruption that is usually drug related. This side effect should be known as new therapeutic challenge would induce more severe clinical features.     

L’atteinte bronchique dans la pneumopathie d’hypersensibilité

Hypersensitivity pneumonitis (HP) is a respiratory disease resulting from the inhalation of antigens to which the exposed subject was previously sensitized. HP is characterized by a diffuse and predominantly mononuclear cell inflammation of the alveolar regions that generally involves the small airways. Bronchiolitic lesions are well-described in histopathologic studies. This pathology explains the presence of mosaic attenuation and expiratory air trapping on thoracic scans. Chronic bronchitis with ventilatory obstruction and emphysema as a long-term outcome are possible consequences of this bronchial involvement.     

Polyradiculonévrite aiguë révélant un lupus érythémateux systémique : une présentation inhabituelle d’évolution fatale

Introduction

Neurological manifestations of systemic lupus erythematosus are common and numerous. They mainly involve the central nervous system, peripheral involvement being rare. Acute polyradiculoneuropathy is very uncommon.

Case report

We report a 44-year-old man, who presented with acute polyradiculoneuropathy revealing systemic lupus erythematosus. Outcome was fatal despite treatment with corticosteroids and immunoglobulin.

Conclusion

Acute polyradiculoneuropathy is a very rare manifestation of systemic lupus erythematosus and can compromise functional and life prognosis. Early diagnosis and management are crucial.     

Orientation des patients par leur médecin généraliste vers les secteurs hospitaliers publics ou privés en France : étude épidémiologique prospective du réseau Sentinelles

Purpose

In-patients characteristics generate cost differences between hospitals. In France, there are few data on the characteristics on the patients referred to hospitals by their general practitioners (GPs) and none on the predictors of referral to the public or for-profit hospitals. The aim of this study was to analyze those characteristics and the predictors of referral to the public or for-profit hospitals.

Methods

We collected, prospectively, the request for hospitalizations made by the GPs of the Sentinelles network in France, from 2007 to 2009. Patients’ characteristics and also the reasons for that request were analyzed. A logistic regression was used to compare the population between local hospitals.

Results

Ten thousand seven hundred and eighteen statements were collected. The median age was 73 years. Patients were women in 51% of the cases, and only 14% of the hospitalizations had been planned. Hospitalization in the public sector was preferred for young children and the elderly (P < 0.001). When compared to the patients referred to the private sector, patients addressed to the public sector were more often seen for emergencies (OR: 2.3 [2.0–2.8]), by a doctor different from their referring GP (OR: 1.7 [1.4–2.1]) and out of the GP's office. The reasons for hospital admission were different depending on the sector of hospitalization (P < 0.001), patients addressed to the public sector hospitals presented with greater comorbidity or more complex diagnosis (for example: feeling ill, fainting or syncope and fever) or a greater disability (for example: stroke, neurological and psychiatric diseases).

Conclusion

This study suggests that GPs send their patients to the public or for-profit hospitals according to criteria of severity, comorbidity and disability.     

Apport de l’IRM cardiaque dans l’évaluation initiale et le suivi des myocardites mimant un syndrome coronaire aigu : à propos d’une série de 43 patients

Aims

The diagnosis of acute myocarditis is complex, especially when the clinical presentation mimics an acute coronary syndrome. This condition may promote the progression to dilated cardiomyopathy and the occurrence of severe arrhythmias. A reassessment integrating a cardiac MRI at three months after the acute episode could help identify patients with a poor prognosis.

Patients and results

This prospective series of 43 consecutive patients hospitalised for acute myocarditis included 36 men and seven women, with a mean age of 32 years, with no indication of heart failure. All patients presented elevated levels of troponin I. Echocardiography showed moderate left ventricular dysfunction in six cases and segmental wall motion abnormalities in 22 cases. After gadolinium injection, a subepicardial late enhancement was observed in 39 cases. Three months after the acute episode, all patients were asymptomatic. The echocardiography and laboratory tests were normal. In 23 cases, the MRI showed persistence of the late enhancement without segmental wall motion abnormality. After a mean follow-up of three years, one patient was lost to follow-up and only one suffered a heart failure revealing a dilated cardiomyopathy complicated by ventricular arrhythmias.

Conclusion

On admission, the subepicardial localisation of late enhancement in the cardiac MRI is reliable criteria for the diagnosis of acute myocarditis, enabling to rule out an acute coronary syndrome. During follow-up, the persistence of late enhancement has no impact on prognosis. In this series, after a mean follow-up of three years, it was not associated with clinical or paraclinical abnormalities, except in one patient.     

Manifestations systémiques extracutanées du psoriasis pustuleux généralisé

Generalized pustular psoriasis of the von Zumbusch type is a severe form of psoriasis characterized by disseminated pustular skin lesions with high fever and hyperleukocytosis. We report a 32-year-old woman who presented a generalized pustular psoriasis with extra-cutaneous manifestations of the disease that included pulmonary involvement, aseptic arthritis, jaundice, and liver abnormalities. The extra-cutaneous manifestations of generalized pustular psoriasis should be known to physicians caring for patients with psoriasis in order to avoid diagnostic delay.